Friday, 26 May 2017

A FAITH-publisher has spoken out about how religious publications can help those suffering with mental health problems.

Duncan Williams is the founder of Christian Free Press part of larger media company NewsGroup Limited, which delivers magazines in churches across the United Kingdom.

The 52-year-old, from Poole, has worked in the industry for more than two decades.

Now he has highlighted the role that faith publications have in supporting people during difficult times.

He said: “Religious magazines and newspapers are a way to reach people suffering with mental health problems and give them a message of hope."

￼“There is often a stigma about this topic that causes additional and needless pain to both the sufferer and those around them. This can go on for years and through generations."

Mr Williams explained how readers send him letters to express their feelings and talk about grief, after being inspired by stories on religious magazines.

“This is how media can be very helpful to society. Newspapers and magazines give people a chance to speak about grief,” he said.

It was when he was leading talks in hospitals and prisons that he first realised how writing can help people to better express their feelings. "People suffering from war trauma and other forms of PTSD often develop problems with addiction, they drop out of society and too frequently fall foul of the law."

Response to inspirational literature was very positive. Practical reports of how people can rebuild their lives from out of the ruins of drug addiction or depression, in turn help others to do the same.

"I have observed countless people become able to recover and get well."

His experience has made him want to set up a publishing company in a bid to reach more people in need and give them a chance to voice their feelings.

“If people lock their pain it’s not good. For example, my elderly grandfather's suicide was brought about by war trauma at sea that he was never able to talk about. The sinking of the ship he served on and drowning of many comrades and passengers haunted him years after the event."

"Being able to be able to talk about traumatic events is vital to the healing process. Too many former members of the armed forces live haunted lives after being mentally scarred. Conversation can break the isolation."

“Even Prince Harry has recently encouraged people to talk about grief and their mental health” he said.

Mr Williams publishes several magazines and newspapers which are delivered in churches, prisons and rehab centres across the country.

“My experience has been that by delivering beneficial newspaper and magazines through armed forces chaplaincies, a message of hope can be effectively offered and shared. Good communication is a great healer,” he said.

He also stressed that religious magazines must not try to convert vulnerable people.

“ As long as religious people put the needs of genuinely helping others ahead of promoting their religion beliefs, all is good. After all, a faith themed magazine in a hospital or a war zone can lift the spirits, if responsibly presented," he added.

"More help is needed in treating mental health and not just relying on church groups and the well intentioned voluntary sector to muddle on indefinitely."

(Read the original report by Maria Zaccaro for the (Southern) Daily Echo during Mental Health Awareness Week, 2017.)

Monday, 8 May 2017

Duncan Williams, the founder of the Christian Free Press,
has recently spoken out about the power of his publications, and religious
publications generally, to help those who are beset with mental health issues.
The Christian Free Press belongs within the umbrella company NewsGroup Limited.

Having been involved in publishing for twenty years,
52-year-old Duncan now wants to help others through his work, and has been
giving talks on how religious publications can do just that.

He said: “Religious magazines and newspapers are a way to
reach people suffering with mental health problems and give them a message of
hope. There is often stigma surrounding this topic that causes additional and
needless pain to both the sufferer and those around them. This can go on for
years and through generations."

Mr Williams has been speaking in response to what he sees as
a nationwide mental health problem that isn’t getting the understanding nor help it deserves.

"It is no exaggeration to claim that Britain is in the
grip of a mental health crisis. Millions admit to having suffered, or are
currently suffering, with anxiety and despair which medical statistics can
confirm in grim detail.

"In a Unicef report
commissioned by the Department for Education, a culture of “compulsive consumerism”
was cited as a major contributing factor to the onset of mental illness and
breakdown of the family structure.”

He believes that religion and spirituality have been
sidelined, and that this may be one of the root causes of our mental health crisis.

"The great psychologist Carl Jung always wrote in
support of the benefits of embracing meditation and a spiritual framework for
clients who had suffered trauma and were needing healing of the psyche. The
UK'S mental health crisis could be reduced by reintroducing spirituality
instead of focusing on material gain," he suggests.

Rather than being a faith led initiative, however, Duncan
suggests that our media consumption has to change. "What we focus on, they
give us more of. Doom and gloom becomes a self-perpetuating and ever widening
cycle of negativity. Advertising and marketing also play a large part in the
deliberate manufacture of discontent in order to create needy revenue streams
out of stimulated consumerism.

"When greed is nurtured and contentment attacked, what
chance does peace of mind have?"

Mr Williams explained how readers send him letters to
express their feelings and talk about grief, after being inspired by stories in
religious magazines.

“This is how media can be very helpful to society.
Newspapers and magazines give people a chance to speak about grief,” he said.

It was when he was leading talks in hospitals and prisons
that he first realised how writing can help people to better express their
feelings. "People suffering from war trauma and other forms of PTSD often
develop problems with addiction, they drop out of society and too frequently
fall foul of the law."

Response to inspirational literature was very positive.
Practical reports of how people can rebuild their lives from out of the ruins
of drug addiction or depression, in turn help others to do the same.

"I have observed countless people become able to
recover and get well."

His experience has made him want to set up a publishing
company in a bid to reach more people in need and give them a chance to voice
their feelings.

“If people lock their pain it’s not good. For example, my
elderly grandfather's suicide was brought about by war trauma at sea that he
was never able to talk about. The sinking of the ship he served on and drowning
of many comrades and passengers haunted him years after the event."

"Being able to be able to talk about traumatic events
is vital to the healing process. Too many former members of the armed forces
live haunted lives after being mentally scarred. Conversation can break the
isolation. Even Prince Harry has recently encouraged people to talk about grief
and their mental health,” he said.

Mr Williams firmly believes that problems with modern
society are making it difficult for us to fully comprehend, contextualise and
work through our grief. The first symptom? Having to be busy, busy, busy.

"Our modern obsession with being busy is not always
wise when we'd be better off focusing on just being. Busy keeps thoughts of
discontent at bay, but only temporarily. Just being, and just being still, can
be revolutionary. It often reveals what we are really being too busy not to
think about."

But Duncan believes that spirituality could bridge this
divide, even if it may be a different kind of spirituality than that which was
more common twenty, fifty or a hundred years ago.

“Pick and mix attitudes toward religious teachings may be
frowned upon by devotees, fundamentals and fanatics, but a "take what you
need leave the rest" approach to studying any creed may be the key to
peace and unity.

“Trashing all religions is harmful to a progressive society,
not to mention scientifically worthless - it’s throwing the baby out with the
bathwater. Our current avoidance of embracing the clear benefits religion and
spirituality has to offer has led to a materialistic society, which may be
partly to blame for the rising numbers of mental health issues in growing
numbers of people.

Mr Williams has also pointed out that the materialism of
society is another of the central societal issues he would like to tackle.
"A fixation on materialism causes a distorted feeling of deprivation because
it stimulates a desire for acquisition simply in order to “keep up with the
Joneses”.

"Social media trends and the popularity of Facebook and
Twitter may be equally culpable in causing our generation to develop a
narcissistic, isolated lifestyle disconnected from reality and meaning."

"Too many of us are preoccupied with this new culture
of selfies, celebrity association and a displays of imagined wealth, which
invite not only envy but also a revulsion from others. We are taught to fear
failure and hate poverty, implying that being poor is shameful and only for
losers. Bullying becomes rife, and weakness is preyed upon.

“Additionally,
studies indicate causation between materialism and poor psychological health,
and research suggests materialistic individuals are more susceptible to marital
discord and fractured friendships.”

But Mr Williams believes that what he does, and the
reintroduction of spirituality generally, could reverse these trends and make
the world a better place. "Reminding someone that they are not the sum of
their possessions is a tall order in a society where so many live for instant
gratification and find it difficult to attach existential meaning stretching
beyond the fancy car, lavish abode and that much deserved job promotion.

"A spiritual dimension to living, offering a
well-argued alternative viewpoint, challenges our personal and collective
values, reminding us that we are all more than what we accumulate. Theology and
faith journalism has a place in the era of new media and helps paves a way out
of a commercialised rat race.

"Whether you identify with religion or not, there is a
fundamental honesty contained in the teachings of most faith-based communities
when they warn people against the empty pursuit of materialism and attaching
oneself too completely to any of the world’s fleeting and ultimately finite
pleasures."

Mr Williams publishes several magazines and newspapers which
are delivered in churches, prisons and rehab centres across the country.

“My experience has been that by delivering beneficial
newspaper and magazines through armed forces chaplaincies, a message of hope
can be effectively offered and shared. Good communication is a great healer,”
he said.

He also stressed that religious
magazines must not try to convert vulnerable people.

“As long as religious people put the needs of genuinely
helping others ahead of promoting their religion beliefs, all is good. After
all, a faith themed magazine in a hospital or a war zone can lift the spirits,
if responsibly presented," he added.

“More help is needed in treating mental health and not just
relying on church groups and the well intentioned voluntary sector to muddle on
indefinitely.”